By: Jackson Bond
Motlow Buzz Reporter
TULLAHOMA,Tenn--Tri-Lakes Sports Car Club hosted its
monthly auto-cross event at Motlow State Community College’s Tullahoma campus
on April 10, 2016, drawing large numbers of racing enthusiasts.
Tri-Lakes broke out the cones to set up for an auto-cross
course on the local campus. The area used was the large parking lot next to the
baseball field and tennis courts. Around 20 cars participated in the event.
The event has been run at Motlow for several years and is
generally favored over the more stringent Nashville Chapter of the Sports Car Club of America. The more lax nature of the
event does not diminish the safety preparations however. There are always three
people working the course, with one to set the cars off and two others holding flags
and radios watching for dangerous situations and calling time penalties.
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| Modified Midget hangs on in corner (from Tri-Lakes Sports Car Club website) |
All
participating vehicles are required to go through a thorough tech inspection to
look for dangerous faults and potential hazards for both drivers and
spectators. All drivers are required to wear a DOT or Schnell-approved helmet
and seatbelts.
“We
are always concerned about safety out here,” Said Tri-Lakes organizer Tim
Miller. “It is no fun if someone gets hurt.”
Autocross is a type of automotive racing based on time
trials on a closed course. A course is drawn out in a parking lot or similar
large patch of pavement in chalk and is then lined with cones. Cars start at
the starting line, tripping a timer, and proceed through the course as fast as
possible while staying mostly in control of the car. If a car knocks over a
cone or moves it outside of its designated area, the driver is given a two-second
time penalty for every cone.
The
goal of the event is to have the fastest time in your class. There are dozens
of different classes a vehicle could be in depending on if they are stock or
lightly modified and have a low-tread wear-rated tire, or are heavily modified.
The stock classes depend on the power and performance of the vehicle and when said
vehicle was produced, and street-prepared classes include things like wheel and
suspension modifications.
Jim Bond, who drove a 1966 Corvette, competed in the
Classic American Muscle class.
“This is really a great
event, even though there is no overall winner everyone stays competitive and
has a good time” said Bond, who ran six runs.
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| Jim Bond's 1966 Corvette (from Tri-Lakes Sports Car Club website) |
There is no first place in the traditional sense for this event, but there was a fastest overall time for each class of participating car. The fastest driver of the day was Scott Mcbride who ran his Ford Focus ST. Mcbride’s best time was 50.152 seconds. The times ranged from 66.3 seconds to the winning time.
“Every year we’ve been out here we have been able to offer
a $1,000 scholarship to one Motlow student.” Said Miller “We love being able to
help out students like that.”
The vehicles participating in this event were extremely
varied, ranging from more mundane and common street vehicles like a Mazda Miata
or a Ford Fusion to an angry Ford Mustang or a Chevrolet Corvette. Even a
purpose-built-for-racing MG Midget was there. Individuals who themselves are
petrol-heads are ideal Participants and spectators for this event.
For more information, visit the Tri-Lakes Sports Car Club
page on Facebook.
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